naumachia
Americannoun
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a mock sea fight, given as a spectacle among the ancient Romans.
-
a place for presenting such spectacles.
noun
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a mock sea fight performed as an entertainment
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an artificial lake used in such a spectacle
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of naumachia
1590–1600; < Latin: mock naval battle < Greek naumachía a sea fight, equivalent to naû ( s ) ship + mách ( ē ) battle, fight + -ia -ia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Indeed, Tacitus writes about Claudius being forced to dispatch the imperial guard on rafts during a naumachia in A.D.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
One would imagine, it was with this view they instituted their naumachia, or naval engagements, performed by half a dozen small gallies of a side in an artificial basin of fresh water.
From Travels through France and Italy by Smollett, T. (Tobias)
Just within this gateway is perceived an extensive naumachia, or theatre for the exhibition of sea-fights, constructed of fine masonry, and finished on the top with a large moulding wrought in the stone.
From Palestine or the Holy Land From the Earliest Period to the Present Time by Russell, Michael
Sometimes the vast arena was flooded with water, and naumachia or sea-fights were exhibited.
From Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by Withrow, William Henry
The naumachia was a sea-fight, either in the arena, which was flooded for the occasion by a system of pipes and sluices, or on an artificial lake.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various
The naumachiae were clearly used more as demonstrations of imperial might than anything else, designed to inspire awe with the sheer scale of the spectacle.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
While excavations have still failed to turn up specific evidence of the naumachiae being staged in the Colosseum, such as remnants of ships or weapons used, ancient sources indicate that naumachiae did indeed take place.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
These naumachiae were giant sea battles re-enacted in flooded Roman arenas.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
Literary evidence suggests that naumachiae only took place in Rome and declined in popularity after the first century, the last one being recorded in 89.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
One of the grandest naumachiae ever mounted, though, was that of Claudius in A.D.
From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2016
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
